BJJ Gis from Pakistan: heard of these?

[businessdoctor]

Don't know whether this should be posted in this Thread, if it shouldn't be, mods, please post where appropriate.

Anyways, I was looking for a gi. Thru the net, I stumbled upon this blog post. I don't know what to make of it. In any case, I've sent an e-mail asking for more details. But the price is just a tad surprising.

Great Gi & MMA Store: ATAMA / BRAZILIAN TOP TEAM COMPETITION KIMONO (GI) 25USD only

Has anyone here dealt with this company? Any info will be appreciated.

[genezide13]

ATAMA for 25USD? thats cheap man!!

[Undisputed]

i dunno but it doesn't look legit to me.. considering that their site is just using a blogspot as their host. you'd be better off buying at budovideos.com.

[businessdoctor]

I emailed them and told me that the only payment options available are money gram, Western Union, and bank transfer. Now, in the guy's email, I saw their website: Welcome To Great Sports

After seeing their site, the more I got apprehensive. Oh well, I guess if it really looks too good to be true, it usually is.

[angst]

Prices for martial arts uniform, gear, and equipment are relatively steep. And while the pricing is almost always necessitated by quality (and, at times, the goodwill of the brand) anyway, it isn't uncommon for a practitioner to look for cheaper alternatives.

The prices you posted, however, especially for a reputable brand like Atama, are highly questionable. It's either the site owner (presumably the product distributor) has a direct link to a Pakistani contractor (Gameness, for instance, openly markets its products as "Made in Pakistan") or the products are counterfeit.

Personally, I won't take chances on this. It's such a huge gamble.

[PROFIGHTCHAMP]

Only buy them directly from Brazil. Maraming nagkalat na fake brands sa market.

If you purchase a Koral Gi or Atama Gi or Gameness Gi or Keiko Gi from Brazil ay aabutin na ng 5k to 6K depending on the brand.

Wala pa dun ang customs tax and freight charges. Ingat sa fake Gis, shorts and shirts being sold in the market.

[genezide13]

Only buy them directly from Brazil. Maraming nagkalat na fake brands sa market.

If you purchase a Koral Gi or Atama Gi or Gameness Gi or Keiko Gi from Brazil ay aabutin na ng 5k to 6K depending on the brand.

Wala pa dun ang customs tax and freight charges. Ingat sa fake Gis, shorts and shirts being sold in the market.

my atama gi cost me around 7k.. kaya nagulat ako kung totoo yan.. abay bibili talaga ako..

[jonzsandoval]

Sir parang Photoshop lang yung mga logo nila

[jonzsandoval]

http://www.greatsportsgoods.com/products/616l_444.jpg

[businessdoctor]

Guys,

Thanks for the advice. Though this may seem like a no-brainer for some, the email correspondence was positioned that they supplied these gis to the main US stores. Me, being familiar with some aspects of outsourcing, just for the heck of it, made a little background check. Though gut feeling already cautioned me to proceed, I still kept an open mind. For all you know, what if - just like sneakers and big name rubber shoes costing $120 on the average per pair, they get outsourced outside the US. I was just thinking along these lines, since I got good deals in some parts of Asia for some of the goods worth a lot in the US.

But when the means of transaction got to be too ridiculous, i.e. minimum order is 10 pieces plus shipping would cost $400 and no means of "merchant protection" since they don't have Paypal in Pakistan, (plus the fact that their website also had lorem ipsum place holders still in their website) that was it!!!

Again, thanks guys.